An Yi followed Hu Jialin and several excited old people into the town. A group of children had already rushed forward and shouted, "The third uncle of the Hu family has returned with troops" and "The third uncle of the Hu family has become a general", which immediately made the town excited.
, every household along the way opened the courtyard door, and the villagers saw Hu Jialin, dressed in military uniform, respectfully helping his uncle into the street, followed by so many armed generals leading tall horses, and they all started talking in surprise. By the river
Under the big locust tree, an old man whose eyes could no longer see clearly leaned on a cane and sighed repeatedly: I knew that there would always be a general in Botou. I said it before...
Turning around the Xiaolongwang Temple at the intersection, he turned south and entered Xiguan Street along the west bank of the canal. He saw the towering spire of the mosque in the distance. An Yi thought he had to go to the middle of the street. Hu Jialin and several old people were already at the canal.
He stopped in front of the courtyard with gray tiles and brick walls. Hu Jialin's eldest brother and aunt were already standing at the door. They held Hu Jialin's hand and cried bitterly with excitement. They wiped their tears repeatedly. Several elders gathered Hu Jialin in the door. Suddenly, there was a sound in the yard.
There were cries and complaints from the old lady.
An Yi, who was filled with emotion, stopped and raised his hand. A group of brothers around him and more than a hundred guards behind him all stopped and consciously walked to the street and stood under the tree against the wall. Shen Fengdao behind An Yi nodded and sighed.
Wan Qian said: "It would be best if we wait outside for a while, so that the old and young of the Hu family, reunited after a long separation, can talk to each other and taste the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion."
In the yard, Hu Jialin's parents helped their son who was kneeling up from the ground. The old mother, whose eyes were dim and full of tears, kept stroking Hu Jialin's stubble-covered face and said repeatedly, crying and asking if she was in a dream? Her face was full of vicissitudes of life.
But the strong old father wiped away the tears on his face, looked at the sky and couldn't help but pant. The uncle, relatives, friends and neighbors gathered around him and gradually showed a satisfied smile. The family sighed and called, recalling the time when Hu Jialin suddenly left home.
It was a sad day, full of regrets.
A slender woman wearing gray clothes and a blue apron rushed from the backyard to the threshold of the main hall, holding on to the mottled door frame, her face full of shock, her plump chest rising and falling sharply, and through the gap she saw clearly Hu Jialin, who was surrounded by relatives.
, her big melancholy eyes welled up with tears, and the joy on her oval-shaped face covered with soot disappeared, replaced by shyness and fear. She quickly combed her messy hair with her rough left hand and stroked the lower part of her neck.
She quickly buttoned up her collar, quickly pulled the hem of her skirt, and took off her apron. Suddenly, her left hand stopped on the empty right sleeve, and her raised foot retracted again, holding the broken half of her elbow.
His right arm froze, and the excitement and panic on his face turned into a look of sadness. The tears he had just held back burst into his eyes, he lowered his head and covered his face, turned and ran into the house.
Hu Jialin, who was standing among his relatives, stared blankly at the entrance to the main hall where there was no figure. His father also saw the back of the woman without half an arm before she disappeared. He shook his head repeatedly, took a half step forward and said sadly:
"San'er, Qi Laosi, who was injured by you in the martial arts competition, did not die. Not long after you escaped, Qi Laosan found our escort agency in Cangzhou. Your master took everything for you and fought with Qi Laosan on the east bank of the Cangzhou Canal.
After a fight, your master gave Qi Laosan nine moves without even fighting back. Qi Laosan knew that he was no match and had to admit defeat. We also apologized to him in front of several fellow seniors in Cangzhou. He also nodded.
We accepted two hundred oceans of money for soup and medicine without saying anything, and we thought that the problem was over... Unexpectedly, a year and a half later, Qi Laosan became an instructor in Fengjun and found out that your master and I escorted the escort to Baoding.
, he led more than 30 masters to ambush in Shijiazhuang, west of Cangzhou. As soon as we realized something was wrong, we were shot at indiscriminately. In the blink of an eye, six brothers fell. Your master was wounded by the gun in the waist and spine before he could dismount.
Lung, he immediately fell off his horse and fainted. I led your fellow apprentices to kill everyone. During the melee, the enemy cut off your older sister’s right arm. Seeing our desperate fighting style, he was so frightened that he dropped more than a dozen weapons.
The corpse ran away. Although we killed fifteen of his masters, we also lost eight of our brothers, and the escort agency was closed. Your master died of serious injuries a few days after coming back. He didn't curse you before leaving, and he was right.
I said, you are his most enlightened and good apprentice who can endure hardships the most, and I said you will definitely have great potential in the future, so your mother and I should not blame you, alas..."
Hu Jialin's old mother cried again: "San'er, Lan'er's life is miserable! She has lost her mother since she was a child. Because of the evil you have done, her father is gone and her arms are gone... She has never complained about you in these years. , I work from dawn to dusk all day long with a useless arm, and I always excuse you. From time to time, I comfort my mother and say that you will come back one day, and you will come back riding a big horse... Lan'er has a vision, and she was really right. Ah! San'er, your master and senior sister have loved you the most since you were a child, and they have shouldered so many sins for you. You can't be sorry to your master and senior sister..."
Hu Jialin held back tears, nodded heavily, gently pushed his old mother away and strode towards the main hall. Hu Jialin's eldest brother and sister-in-law wanted to follow, but were stopped by the old man: "Don't go in, let San'er and his senior sister talk to each other. Go and greet the guests at the door."
Hu Jialin's eldest brother and sister-in-law nodded respectfully and trotted out of the yard. Several elderly people and relatives and friends also hurriedly greeted them, asking An Yi and his brothers to come in quickly to serve tea and watch.
Shen Fengdao, who was well aware of the local customs in Cangzhou, whispered a few words in An Yi's ear. An Yi nodded and told Lin Xudong beside him to quickly prepare some gifts. He grabbed the eldest brother who looked exactly like Hu Jialin and asked where Gaotang was? Hu Jialin's The eldest brother quickly brought An Yi and the brothers to the two elders.
An Yi said nothing, and knelt down to Hu Jialin's parents: "Uncle and aunt, my son An Yi has sent greetings to the two elders! Ever since our National Revolutionary Army left Guangzhou and went north to fight, eldest brother Hu Jialin has always been with An Yi. Working together through life and death, we turned an engineering company of more than 200 brothers into a model battalion of the revolutionary army, and then expanded it from a supplementary regiment to an independent regiment, until now it is an independent division with more than 17,000 brothers.
Brother Hu, together with An Yi and thousands of brothers who shared the joys and sorrows, experienced the major battles of the Northern Expedition and made military exploits one after another. Due to each military exploit, they were promoted step by step from lieutenant company commander to major battalion commander and colonel. The leader of the regiment and the current Major General Commander of the Independent Division, Brother Hu Jialin, with his superb martial arts, magnanimous mind and outstanding military exploits, has won the special commendation from the Central Military Commission of the National Government five times and the special commendation from the National Revolutionary Army Headquarters nine times. It is deeply respected and admired by more than 200,000 soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. It can be said that without the hard work of Brother Hu Jialin and all the brothers, there would be no "Revolutionary Army Model Camp" that is famous throughout the country today, and there would be no "Steel Army" awarded today. On behalf of the more than 17,000 soldiers of the Independent Division of the Revolutionary Army, An Yi would like to express his heartfelt respect and gratitude to the two elders! I kowtow to the two elders!"
"Kowtow to the two elders!"
Behind An Yi, more than a dozen generals also knelt down and kowtowed. Hu Jialin's parents and dozens of nearby villagers were moved and rushed. In the end, Hu's father, who was well-informed, stepped forward to help An Yi up. Several elderly people were also busy. He stepped forward to help the generals who were saluting respectfully, but the voices of "I can't help you" and "My dear nephew, please get up quickly" could not be heard.
The uncle behind Father Hu seemed to have remembered something. His long eyebrows trembled frequently and his expression was excited. He whispered in Father Hu's ear.
Hu's father was shocked. He held An Yi's hand tightly and looked at An Yi's face carefully. His chiseled lips trembled: "My dear nephew... the 'model camp' that is famous all over the world is the model camp that my nephew just mentioned." ?”
"That's right, all the brothers in the battalion are at the east entrance of the town now." An Yi nodded with a smile on his face.
Father Hu asked again: "Is your wise nephew the ever-victorious general who invested 1.5 million to relieve thousands of people in northern Shandong who were affected by the disaster?"
"My uncle was so impressed. Although the 1.5 million was donated in my nephew's honor, every penny of it was earned by the brothers from the 'Model Camp' and the Independent Division who sacrificed their lives. At the beginning of the year, due to the war between the North and the South,
For other reasons, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, we can only donate in the name of my nephew. In fact, every brother, including Brother Hu, has a share of this donation." An Yi explained seriously.
There was a burst of exclamation from the surroundings, and the slightly trembling Father Hu asked again: "The revolutionary army that dared to fight the Japanese in the north of Jinan City at the beginning of the month was the team of your nephews?"
An Yi nodded seriously and said proudly: "Uncle, the commander of this battle is my brother Hu Jialin! Cheng Guang, Lao Lu, come here...Uncle, ladies and gentlemen, this is Major General Li Guang.
The chief of staff of our independent division, this is Colonel Lu Xiong, the deputy of the regiment where the 'Model Battalion' is located. They are all my brother Hu's right-hand men. They fought the battle in the north of Jinan... Cheng Guang, you and your elders
Let’s talk.”
Cheng Chengguang and Lu Xiong respectfully stepped forward to salute, and the experienced Cheng Chengguang explained with a smile: "I would like to inform you, seniors, that our independent division was the main force in the battle on May 2nd. Our division entered the battlefield on the north bank before dawn.
We were the first to engage in battle with the Japanese army. In the afternoon, two friendly divisions joined the battle. The entire battle plan was formulated by General An of our division. At that time, General An was serving as the Chief of Staff of the First Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and Deputy Division Commander Hu acted on our behalf.
The commander of the independent division, Deputy Commander Hu, was personally responsible for commanding the entire process. Because of this battle, our independent division became the first unit of the National Revolutionary Army to fight the Japanese army."
The yard was boiling. Hu Jialin's parents and fellow villagers finally understood that these young men in front of them were officers of the heroic army that was famous all over the world and frightened the Zhilu Army. They finally understood that their nephew Hu Jialin was the general of this army.
Hu Jialin's father staggered into the main hall and came to the memorial tablet of his senior brother Sun Tingfang. With tears streaming down his face, he looked up and sighed:
"Senior brother... San'er has not embarrassed you, nor has he insulted our three-hundred-year-old sect..."
In the woodshed in the backyard, Hu Jialin hugged his senior sister Sun Lan'er tightly, shedding hot tears silently, letting Sun Lan'er, who was crying, beat him on the chest, and waited until Sun Lan'er was exhausted and clung to him
When he touched his heart, Hu Jialin let go slightly, lowered his head and said softly but firmly in Sun Laner's ear: